Safe, Green and Resilient approach by Indian Transport Sector | Part — II
With 1.3 billion people, India was under lockdown from 24th March 2020 till 31st May 2020. That was almost 70 days that entire country was under lockdown. Post lockdown, the economies across the world have witnessed massive injection of fiscal stimulus to help countries deal with the pandemic crisis, and to shift gears for economic growth to return. However it is a dangerous trap and if we are not prudent to consider our efforts in recovering the economy, we may also end up adding additional trigger for more Covid-19 cases and mortalities.
A nationwide study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in April 2020 revealed that people with COVID-19 who live in regions with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from the disease than people who live in less polluted areas. The researchers found that a small increase in long-term exposure to PM2.5 leads to a large increase in the COVID-19 death rate. The study results highlighted the importance of continuing to enforce existing air pollution regulations to protect human health both during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
Most Polluted Cities in India
The story of India is that we are home to 14 of 20 most polluted cities in the world. Our economic recovery should not come at the cost of pushing our cities back into this deadly rat trap of world’s most polluted cities. List of top 10 polluted Indian cities during past five years i.e., from 2015 to 2019 along with PM 2.5 levels is given in Table I & II.
Table I: List of top 10 polluted Indian cities in 2019, 2018 & 2017
Table II: List of top 10 polluted Indian cities in 2016 & 2015
From the analysis, it is observed that past five years, Delhi and Lucknow were consistently on this list of most polluted Indian cities. Whilst Gurugram and Faridabad from Haryana have appeared four times in 5 years, Gaziabad, Noid, Kanpur, Agra, Patna and Muzaffurpur have appeared thrice over 5 years. Uttar Pradesh is the leading state with 5 cities, of which 4 cities were listed thrice and 1 city appeared 4 times. Further, 2 cities from Haryana appeared 4 times in the list, and 2 cities from Bihar listed thrice.
Table-III: No. of times Indian cities appeared in the top 10 polluted Indian cities list.
The Great Reset: Global Approach to Sustainable Economic Recovery
Managing Director of IMF, in her recent remarks to World Economic Forum, highlighted that the best memorial we can build to those who have lost their lives in the pandemic is to build a world that is greener, smarter and fairer. This is the moment to decide that history will look back on this as the Great Reset, not the Great Reversal.
Data from the 2008–09 financial crisis shows that South Korea, which directed nearly 70% of its stimulus towards green measures, rebounded faster than other economies in the OECD. The high-level finding of a recent study published by Environmental Defense and the Ontario Public Health Association highlighted that switching to electric vehicles in the Greater Toronto area would cause 313 fewer deaths per year, an estimated social benefit of $2.4 billion. Germany. as part of its economic recovery is investing 2.5 billion euros for establishing charging network across the nation. In its economic recovery package, they have also doubled incentives for consumers buying EVs. Bicycles are playing a central role in getting the work force moving again, as France emerges from quarantines. New Zealand has become the first country to provide funding to make tactical urbanism into official government policy during the corona virus pandemic. Cities across New Zealand will use 90% of this fund to widen sidewalks and carve out temporary cycle ways.
India’s opportunity to build a green and resilient mobility ecosystem
In light of this context, India too should build a green and resilient mobility ecosystem from this great reset. An immediate focus is required in all the critical cities listed in Table-III; the approach should be creating a climate resilient and clean energy society under pinned on electric mobility economy and renewable power delivered through accelerating innovation from startup. Scaling up the electrification and adoption of public transport will be critically important to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. This new ecosystem offers India the opportunities to become a leader in domestic manufacturing and job creation as electric mobility is still in nascent stages in many advanced markets around the globe.
Post lockdown, the lion share of captive ridership in public transport will shift to bicycles. Reason being is captive riders of public transport, they can’t afford owning a hulk of metal box but they easily can own a bicycle. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in its recent advisory to states and metro rail companies, has encouraged adoption of non-motorised transport and cashless technology to prevent coronavirus transmission on public transit networks. The advisory aslo highlighted that most of the urban trips are clocked in under five kilometres, non-motorised transport (NMT) offers perfect opportunity to implement in this COVID-19 crisis as it requires low cost, less human resource, is easy and quick to implement, scalable and environment-friendly.
An inspiring story right from West Bengal government is that even though thousands of state buses are plying, many prefer bicycles to maintain social distancing during the post lockdown and the Chief Minister decided that smaller roads, which are connected with the main roads to be used by the cyclists. Part of this decision, the CM has also asked the Kolkata Police to check the feasibility to make sure it does not lead to accidents. Cities across India should take up this novel approach of creating pop-up bicycle lanes to ensure social distance, safer and green commute. A transformed mobility future will require participation and collaboration across diverse stakeholder groups.
This article is Part-II of the series on Reforms proposed in Indian transport sector.
Authors:
Joseph Teja, YP — Smart Transport & Electric Vehicles, NITI Aayog.
Views expressed are personal.
